Guarded (#2 Post-Order 66 Series)

Guarded - Part 30

Echo had been awake for hours. The air around him felt charged and all of his nerves were singing with electricity as they waited for the others. When Senna and Hunter had confirmed Iden and Crosshair's report of the EMP weapon, they'd immediately all sat down together to begin planning. Senna had made another offensively strong batch of caf that they'd all struggled through in order to stay awake. Typho had signaled Tarren and the others to get on the road as soon as possible, and they'd arrived in the middle of the night, several hours before the first rays of dawn would begin cresting the horizon. Sitting around the kitchen table now with his helmet next to him, he couldn't stop his leg from bouncing, trying to expend the nervous energy.

The EMP cannons had changed things for him, made him a liability. One blast from that would shut down all of the machinery in his body, so while others were more concerned with their weapons or comms shorting out, he was concerned the equipment keeping him alive may fail. The minute they'd confirmed the cannons' presence that night, he'd felt Senna's eyes on him.

"We have to disable those first," she'd stated, and he couldn't agree more. His own health aside, that would deaden their attack before it even began. They'd tried to talk him into staying back, trying to find a place to hunker down until they were sure the cannons were disabled, but he'd vehemently refused. That's not what I trained for. Instead, he'd wound up talking his way onto the team that would disable the cannons.

A hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present, and he looked up to find Sabé's brown eyes studying him. He reached up, squeezing her hand with more assurance than he felt. It's all happening too fast. Did we put enough information together? Can we really pull this off? They'd faced some insurmountable odds, but then they'd at least known what they were walking into. Here, he wasn't certain.

Sabé squatted down next to him. "You've done enough," she whispered. "It's going to be alright."

"I hope you're right," he muttered back, falling silent as Typho and Iden emerged from the hall with a set of holopads. The room quieted as Typho placed the first holopad in the center of the table, bringing up the map Tech had constructed. Iden activated the other holopad at the far end of the table, and a few moments later Tech and Kestia's blue glowing figures popped into view.

"Alright, you know why we're here," Typho said, his baritone voice echoing around the packed room. All eyes turned towards him. Around twenty people had jammed into the space, and Echo noted the age range and different backgrounds of each person. There were young soldiers with tattoos covering their faces and necks, older people with kind eyes but hardened smiles, all brewing for a good fight. Their forces were laying low in the grasslands and forest surrounding the city, waiting for direction. They'd thrown a plan together quickly, the best they could on such short notice. I thought we'd have more time, Echo thought. I suppose we'd never have enough to feel great about this though.

Typho had zoomed in on the area near them, highlighting the Kwilaan Starport and the Government Education Center. "These are the two Imperial strongholds in the area. We will send in a covert team to disable the EMP cannons first. There are two cannons, a primary and redundant. This team will consist of Senna, Hunter, and Echo. Once they've neutralized those cannons, we'll move to take the starport. Iden and Crosshair will command the group that will flank from the east while Senna, Hunter, and Echo move in from the north and try to take the control tower. The east group need to disable or take the weapons on the tarmac and take out any Imperial craft that try to escape. This victory hinges on us neutralizing any air support from the starport and taking away the Empire's ability to fly in additional drop ships full of troopers." He flicked back across the map towards the eastern edge of the city. "Wrecker, Tarren, and I will take the remaining troops and cut off access to the starport from the Government Education Center where most of the troops are holed up. After that, we'll take all forces that aren't needed to hold the starport and drive towards the Center to take it. If we can breach the outer walls, they'll have their backs to the sea with no amphibious craft to evacuate them. They do have walkers and explosives, so we'll prioritize taking those out first before we move to capture the rest of the Center." He glanced around the room. "Comms will be very important throughout this. If for any reason the EMP cannon cannot be disabled, it'll be imperative that you either find a shielded location or power down your devices immediately to keep them from being shorted out. Hunter, Senna, Echo – you'll have to get outside the jammer's range and let us know immediately if you fail." The three of them nodded, but Echo felt as though Typho's eyes lingered on him. If we fail, I won't have to do much of anything I suppose. He held Typho's stare before the captain moved on. He heard Senna's voice in his head. We won't fail. I won't let that happen. He glanced to his left and saw her watching him. He gave her a slight nod and a wink to convey some sort of confidence, but deep down, his stomach flipped for what felt like the hundredth time. He was sure she felt it too.